After the Upper Green River Water Basin Joint Powers Board met Monday afternoon, Aaron Million and Jeff Fassett presented a proposal for a water pipeline to carry water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir to the north front range of Colorado.

The proposed pipeline would carry 165,000 to 250,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir to locations on the front range of Colorado, such as Colorado Springs and Pueblo, for rural and urban use.

According to Million, the water is needed in Colorado for agricultural use as well as for urban use.

Many communities and agricultural lands in Colorado are dependent on nonrenewable water sources which will eventually be depleted, according to Million.

The project will be funded privately and then turned over to a public entity to manage because there is no state funding available in Colorado for public water projects and the state cannot afford it, Million said.

Million also commented that the water will come directly out of the State of Colorado's share of the river according to the Colorado River Compact.

The Colorado River Compact was established in 1922 and then revised in 1928, as an agreement among seven states in the basin of the Colorado River. It governs the allocations of the river's water.

States were separated into the Upper Basin--Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming--and the Lower Basin--Nevada, Arizona and California.

Million said the agreement allows Colorado to use unappropriated water from the Green River because flows through a part of western Colorado and there is no sub-compact call on it.

The water taken from the reservoir will actually be Colorado's share of the Green River, since the Green River flows into the reservoir.

Fassett explained the amount of water allocated to sell for this project was set by the Bureau of Reclamation after in-depth studies and models were developed.

“The bureau has the best model, and they made the decision,” Fassett said.

According to Fassett, BuRec took into consideration updated hydrology, base flow requirements, population growth and future depletions for Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.

The model used for the study was based on the last 83 years of recorded history on the river, reservoir and the outlying area.

Fassett agrees the pipeline will cause some changes in the Annual Operating Plan of the reservoir, but does not foresee any major problems.

He said similar projects are in the works, such as the Lake Powell Pipeline, which will pump around 100,000 acre-feet of water to southern Utah.

The Lake Powell Pipeline project would allow Utah to tap into its unused portion of the Colorado River water. Utah currently uses only 74 percent of its annual allocation.

The proposed pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir would cut across the southern half of Wyoming, following Interstate-80 where the natural gas pipelines are already located. The line would then turn south to Colorado. The developers have looked into to incorporating Lake Hattie, outside of Laramie, into the pipeline, but said that it wasn't necessary and could be avoided altogether.

Million said that because the project will be using existing infrastructure, it is the least damaging water project out there.

Million's interest in the project began with his thesis at Colorado State University, economic studies on the Green River Basin, and eventually turned into the Regional Watershed Supply Project, or the water pipeline to the front range in Colorado.

Fassett is a former Wyoming State Engineer and currently runs an engineering consulting firm based in Cheyenne.

"That sucks! You know the fishery will get the short end of the stick in the long run."

Don that is exactly what I'm afraid will happen. The developers with get filthy rich,and the public will take it in the shorts. I see a great fishery going to "hell in a hand basket" just to line someones pockets.

Colorado doesn't have the water resources to sustain the kind of growth we're seeing if we don't make changes. You just can't expect to be able to have lush green lawns in a semi-arrid climate with average rainfall of 12-13" per year. But no one seems to want to bite the bullet and force the changes.

DonInDenver

Registration is fast, free and easy. Tell 'em DonInDenver sent you!

Big lake trout are too valuable to be killed to hang on the wall. They can live 60 years, so please release them and share the joy!

I have heard rumors about this for the last 4 of 5 years. Do they already have approval or is it just still in the proposal stage like the article says? I don't remember hearing anything regarding public comment recently and I would expect anything that requires BLM would require public input before it could happen. That is what we have had to do at work every time we have added anything to our plant by Fontenelle. Anyway if it is not approved already and the public still has an opportunity to comment I would hope we could get al ot of people to voice there opinions. That amount of water on above average snow years probably would not be a problem but the way the last ten years around here have been we would be fishing the river all the way to the dam and not a resevoir.

Just my two cents. Wyobraz

Wyobraz

"A government big enough to supply everything you need, is big enough to take everything you have. - Thomas Jefferson

I'm just wondering how the he-- Colorado is gonna pull that off. The Green is a part of the Colorado river system & that system is already overcommitted. Dunno how it'll end up but southern California has a big enough population & congressional representation to flat out overpower Colorado if push came to shove.

Good Morning Guys, I actually took 3 hours and went to that presentation and to answer your comment Geezer, it looks as if the Colorado system is not over committed. Actually what is happening now is that the excess water that is coming through the system now is being used by California, but it doesn't belong to them. It belongs to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and maybe Nevada, which ever states belong to the Colorado river compact. This excess water to date has never been allocated to the various states because none had ever asked for it. I believe that there won't be a public forum on this because the water and FG are regulated by the Bureau of Reclamation not the BLM. The only role the BLM would play is to issue right of ways for the pipeline. The Bureau of Rec. did cut Mr. Million's request from 425,000 acre feet to somewhere around a minimum of 165,ooo to 225,000 as KK stated. I asked the question about economic and recreational impact with regards to Sweetwater County and the users of the Wyoming side of the Gorge. They stated that those questions would be addressed in the invironmental impact statement which hasn't been filed yet. It looks as if we have about 5- 7 years or maybe a tad longer if it flies. I have several points of contention with the first being, if this is indeed Colorado water, why is a private business seeking right to it. Shouldn't the State apply for this water and get it there the best way they can. Does anybody or everybody have the right to just go buy excess water that should be allocated to a state? Second, the point of diversion is now set for somewhere around the state line. I believe that the point of diversion should be below FG where the water enters into Colorado. It would impact us all some, but if there is excess water already coming out of the Gorge, the overall impact would be limited....Finally, if this thing does fly in the years to come, can you guys in Colorado say BURBOUT, because they will get in that 48 inch pipeline and visit your state.

JBT,thanks for a informed response .I would of liked went to this meeting also,but I didn't even know there was going to be a meeting. I have to ask the same questions that you bring up.Why would they be allowed to take water out before the dam? It is my understanding that the Colorado watershed does not begin,until the water is released from the dam.

Secondly,why is a private developer asking for this water ,instead of the state of Colorado? Is this just a way to make someone rich,at the expense of the gorge and it's users.As the old saying "something smells fishy in Denmark" to me.

Again thanks for posting ,and letting us know what you seen and heard.

Good Morning King, I don't think this thing was widely advertised, mainly because it was supposed to be a presentation to the Sweetwater County Water Board. I however got a sniff of it from friends and decided to go and see if they would kick me out. There were actually alot of curious folks like myself there and along with BLM, Bureau of Rec, Fisheries people, both state and local and some folks past and present from the State Water Board. I was disappointed not to see any of our County Commissioners or city government folks from either Rock Springs or Green River. At least none that I recognized. The directors of both Chambers were there and asked questions. I believe a representative from Craig Thomas was there too. Sen. Thomas's contention is that Colorado may not be entitled to more water so that could be up in the air, although the Bureau of Rec. didn't indicate that.

Since Mr. Million needs to get an EIS, where are those damn Squawfish, Razorbacks, and Humpbacks when you need them? Maybe the Green above the lake needs a couple of those, THEN saving the fish and maintaining water flows would be an issue. (Are there any up there! I've never seen one, and whities sure aren't endangered.) But sport fish, nobody gives a damn about.

I bet a proposal to reduce flows where the "endangered" fish are wouldn't stand a chance. Maybe somebody can find some kind of endangered toad, rare salamander, cliff-dwelling owl, or aquatic ant on the shores of the Gorge that would perish if a drop of water was diverted.

As Don said, lawns should be illegal. If you live in the desert, your front yard should look like a desert. They're doing it in AZ! And their yards look great.

I live on colorado's front range and am TOTALLY against this crap. The ONLY reason for the pipeline is to fuel more rampant growth and big money for developers. I've watched colorado become californicated since 1971 and it's sad.I say we put million in the pipe and see where he ends up!

thanks Slayerfish,its good to have a perspective of someone else that lives in Colo. I remember asking myself way back last fall,when I first heard of this .If is was just a way to make a few people( developers) rich or was it really needed. Rampant growth is never a good thing ,and usually the only ones that wins is the developer's.

thanks for chiming in slayerfish! stuff like this gets my blood boiling at times! people never understand that when they expand things like that it generally just drives more development! where does it end?

Oh yeah, the only reason for xtra water is to fuel growth. You wouldnt believe all the houses they are building east of Denver in what is basically a desert. All the houses come with bluegrass lawns. It all comes down to greed-

you watch, in our kids life time they will see the loss of hunting and fishing because we have over populated this countires wilderness...

this is a world wide problem... I wonder how they plan on feeding the world when they built houses on top of all the farmable ground...

the area I live in used to be farm country when I was a kid, now it is incorporated with the city of detroit and I am 40 miles from detroit... and what I mean, it is solid city from my house to the detroit river !!!! and movin west at a rate of a thousand houses per day.... all big monstrous houses that their grand kids will have to pay on the morgages. "that's not a joke"

ya with out a doubt fishing is taking a beatin everywhere... every little creek that onece held trout and pike is becoming a dranage ditch for a newly developed multi billioin dollar subdivision....

Minnows? Nope. Shad? Not’a. Aquatic insects? Not even close. Go ahead fishin’ geeks, take the micrometer from out of your pocket-protector and start measuring. It won’t take you long to realize no two specimens in...
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